Monday, July 29, 2013

BARBECUE chapter I

Barbecue Blues

Robert Hicks,
better known as Barbecue Bob(September 11, 1902 – October 21, 1931) was an
early American Piedmont blues musician. His nickname came from the fact that he
was a cook in a barbecue restaurant. One of the two extant photographs of Bob
show him playing his guitar while wearing a full length white apron and cook's
hat.

Early life

He was born in
Walnut Grove, Georgia. He and his brother, Charlie Hicks, together with Curley
Weaver, were taught how to play the guitar by Curley's mother, Savannah
"Dip" Weaver. Bob began playing the 6-string guitar but picked up the
12-string guitar after moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1923–1924. He became one
of the prominent performers of the newly developing early Atlanta blues style.

In Atlanta, Hicks
worked a variety of jobs, playing music on the side. While working at Tidwells'
Barbecue in a north Atlanta suburb, Hicks came to the attention of Columbia
Records talent scout Dan Hornsby. Hornsby recorded him and decided to use
Hicks's job as a gimmick, having him pose in chef's whites and hat for
publicity photos and dubbing him "Barbecue Bob".

Career

During his short
career he recorded 68 78-rpm sides. He recorded his first side, "Barbecue
Blues", in March 1927. The record quickly sold 15,000 copies and made him
a best selling artist for Columbia's race series. Despite this initial success,
it was not until his second recording session, in New York during June 1927,
that he firmly established himself on the race market. At this session he
recorded "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues", a song inspired by the
major floods taking place in Mississippi at that time. This song, as well as
his other blues releases, gained considerable popularity, and his records sold
much better than those of other local blues musicians.

He died in
Lithonia, Georgia, of a combination of tuberculosis and pneumonia brought on by
influenza, at the age of 29, on October 21, 1931. His recording of
"Mississippi Heavy Water Blues" was apparently played at his
graveside before burial.